Steamed Banana Pudding

If you’ve seen this post, you already know about my grandma’s abiding love of steamed puddings. I found fourteen--fourteen!--in her recipe box, and there are still many more to test. This recipe for Steamed Banana Pudding moved to the front of the line when my brother came into town. He had only ever eaten one kind of steamed pudding–Grandma’s Christmas Pudding--and I figured it was time for him to taste another. 

I also chose this recipe because it seemed quick and easy. No grinding or grating would be required--just a simple mash of a banana. 

How to Make Steamed Banana Pudding

First, I creamed together the butter and sugar. 

 I then beat in the eggs and the banana. 

The mixture looked curdled at this point, but I wasn’t too worried. Some flour would smooth things out. But first, I had to add the most unusual of the ingredients: one tablespoon of boiling milk combined with baking soda. 

How does one achieve a tablespoon of boiling milk? The obvious solution was to put it in the microwave and heat it up. 

As I did so, I wondered what Grandma might have done in her day. She never had a microwave in her home. Maybe a true test would have had me pouring a tablespoon of milk into a saucepan, but I was going for quick and easy. 

These quirky instructions made me wonder if there had been an ongoing problem with lumpy baking soda in Grandma's time. Maybe this hot milk and baking soda combination was the answer to that issue. Or, maybe the combination served some other purpose. I wasn't sure, so I did as instructed, even though my baking soda was silky smooth.   

The result of putting these two ingredients together was like a science experiment--a frothing fizz that would have had my grandson asking to do it again. However, he wasn’t around, so I poured the froth into the mixing bowl. 

I then added the rest of the dry ingredients and beat it all together. 

The batter went into my trusty little pudding mold, which had lately been earning its keep. 

The mold went into simmer water where it remained, lid untouched, for an hour and a half. The reveal is always fun.   

As you can see from the pictures at the top of this post, the back of Grandma's recipe card held a recipe for Lemon Sauce, which I assumed was meant to be served with the Steamed Banana Pudding. The process was so straightforward forward I forgot to photograph it. I combined all the ingredients and brought them to a boil. 

The liquid in the saucepan didn’t resemble a sauce. Nope, it was just a hot and runny liquid with hardly any thickness at all. However, I scooped a little over my portion of pudding and dolloped it with cream because that’s how we do puddings in our house. 

 I also set out some ice cream and hot fudge because, to me, banana and chocolate go together much better than banana and lemon. 

The Verdict

The opinion was unanimous--delicious. Think of the lightest, moistest, tenderest banana cake you’ve ever had. Now, imagine it served warm with toppings. The lemon sauce was nothing special--thin and weak as far as lemon things go--but it wasn't bad, not bad enough, anyway, to detract from the real star of the show--the banana pudding. Hot fudge and ice cream turned out to be the winning toppings of the evening. So good.

If you’re wondering how different banana pudding is from banana bread, you’re not alone. My sister-in-law asked the same thing. The next day, I tried a slice of it cold. It was still light and moist, much more like cake than banana bread. A perfect afternoon snack. 

I know I said this in my last steamed pudding post, but if you’d like to try making one, Steamed Banana Pudding would be a good place to start. As for toppings, don’t bother with the lemon sauce on the recipe card above. This Butterscotch Sauce along with some whipped cream would be better. Best would be hot fudge and ice cream. Trust me on that. 

Click on the link below the recipe card to download it and print it out. Have fun steaming the pudding!

P.S. If you don't already have a homemade hot fudge recipe, try this one from The Recipe Hall of Fame Cookbook. It's yummy.